CHEM-643 INTERMEDIARY METABOLISM HOME PAGE FALL SEMESTER 2012

Brief Course Description: Intermediary Metabolism is a graduate and upper-level undergraduate course taught each fall by Professor Hal White. A fundamental general background in biochemistry at the level of CHEM-641/642 (or CHEM-527) is assumed.

Courses in intermediary metabolism share with organic chemistry the reputation for presenting enormous amounts of tedious information that has to be regurgitated on impossible examinations. This course is not about memorization of structures and obscure pathways. You will have a lifetime to do that, if you want. This course is about understanding, thinking, pursuing knowledge, identifying resources, and communicating. It is about making metabolism understandable, hopefully interesting, and possibly exciting enough that you will want to continue learning about it for the rest of your life. In order to emphasize those objectives,  Intermediary Metabolism is taught using a combination of interactive lectures, homework assignments, and group problem-solving in a Problem-Based Learning format in which groups of students work cooperatively on complex problems (case studies) during class time and turn in individual assignments after each. There are multiple graded assignments including a midterm and final examination. Personal initiative in the form of outside reading and class participation is expected. Please examine the course-related documents linked below:

Syllabus Fall 2012

• What's a good learning issue?

Home work Assignments 

•     Inborn Errors of Metabolism
•     Review of Glucose Metabolism
•     Lipid Metabolism
•     Reactions Involving HMG CoA
•     Lysine Biosynthesis
•     Biosynthesis of Essential Amino Acids
•     Riboflavin Biosynthesis

•     Is it Murder? (a short sample 4 stage problem)
  
•     Creatine Creates Controversy (a sample problem) Pages 1-5.    
•     Life without Oxygen ................................... Page 1, 2, 2a, 2b, 3, Summary
  
•     Are you what you eat? ................................ Page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, Summary
•     Plants vs. Animals in the Dining Hall. ........... Page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, Summary
•     Kellogg's Product 19. ................................. Page 1, 2, 3, Summary
•     Sick Kids with Unusual Organic Aciduria. ..... Page 1, 2, Summary

•     Assignment-Detecting natural selection on the amino acid composition of amino acid biosynthetic enzymes.
•     Checklist for Group Project
•     Rubric for Evaluating the Group Project
  

•     Case Study Problem Term Assignment
  
•     Case Study Evaluation Check List
•     Case Study Request Form
•     What's an "A?"
•     Help Constructing a Concept Map
•     Rubric for Evaluating Case Study PBL Problems